Show LOVE AND Tll CALLO I yDw BY W A FRASER ¼ Copyright 1S3S by S S McClure Co The lights from the Gymkhana club It wore streaming across Halpin road and J the drone of the band came lazily v across the open filtering itself through the octopus limbs of the big banyans and over the lake of roses the professor had filled the compound with That was the professors hobby roses That and Makes only the snakes were real business busi-ness the rose were for Dleasure But Loth thrived ecually well in Kangoon jacquiminot and the caoelo I was paradise this land where the rcses grew even as cabbages and the hooded devils came up out of the jungle of their own accord to be dissected So thought Professor Conli But the professor was over at the gym now and the drowsy music elbowing elbow-ing and jostling the straggling light as they crowded through the KushlCu tallies mingled with the soft Patter of small talk with which Minora Conll xvas beguiling thc mInutes as they sat there she and the major ailing the return of the > < o essor rCurn Of course the majors pony Nat 1 Thue wouid win the Tharawady plate she was saying when she stopped suddenly i sud-denly and steadied herself as one i i dies when a tenfoot ditch suddenly I opens Its yax ning maw under the fore I fcet of ones mouth I The light whIch streamed out from I the drawing room and offered battle to the glimmer of the Gymkhana showed I the sudden paling of her cheek Parian n > aibe vas nol more white than that j seifjfaoe zcl ao vDo ol move major she said do nol move your lips even if you value j your life Herkoiner looked straight into the gr at strong eyes of the girl 1 and they I told him more of the danger more of r Yes a Cobra the Lips Whispered Do Not Move the horror than even her words had doneKeep Keep perfectly still she continued and do not interfere with me in anyway any-way wayIs it a snake asked the major disregardIng dis-regarding her injunction to remain silent si-lent Yes a cobra the lips whIspered Do rot move From the aiiecticn of Minoras eyes Herkomcn know that the hooded demon was on the back of his chair Surely it xvas the light of inspiration whIch came into the eyes of this strange girl as she broke into a low Italian chant weaving her slends1 arms back and forth back and forth Herkumei could fee that the cobra was foIiovig her movement Great beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead not sc much at his own proximity prox-imity to the hated thing but because of the gad 001 courage Minora was showing and the risk she was running in drawing the attention of the vIper to herself bhe s going to hyVnolize the beast he thought lie knew she could do it I too the face tod him that I seemed eowadlx to sit there and allow a woman wom-an to face the snake but her command to keep perfectly still had been as much entreaty s Command and he felt that bj moving he would only increase the danger to both nth the same sinuous movement Uinoia had rIsen from her seat and gently sway ire her body as the soft cadences of the chant rose and fell gliacil toward the cobra My God keep back Herkoiner groaned csrcely moving his lips Stand back and waI till he goes away But the ehant continued and there were the interjected two English words keep still Before Heikomer could move or remonstrate re-monstrate further there was the flash of a white arm a rustle of the soft folds of ilinora muslin dress and he sprang to his feet to ee the cobra 1 > e lug held at arms length iiimly grasped grasp-ed by those slender fingers close up to its ugly wedgeshaped head Wait pleas she cried stepping back as Herkomer adv meet toward her with evident intention of taking the snake fathers tomtorr bus just drIven up to the door he wi take the cobra it s one of his patents She was still holding the repulsive creature at arms length as the profes soi ran UI the cemented steps calling for the bearer to come and take his topee He stopped short when he obserx the gruesome tableau in front of him stopped short until startled into act ity by his daughters voice asking to be relieved of her terrible captive In an instant the professor had the cobra by the tai and calling to l noia to let sro quickly he swung him clear and holding him thus carried I him back to the box from whIch he had escaped Overcome by the reaction the brave girl sank into the chair she had risen from and gave way to a flood of nerv j ious i-ous hysterical tears Of course there could only be one reward tor such gallantry L I the term may be applied to womens brae deeds I A v C was out of the question besides be-sides the great Italian eyes had I I w red sad havoc with Herkomer beI I fore the advent of the cobia I Love made her brave mused the I major as his Burma pony rattled him I over the metalled road of the cantonment canton-ment late that night but shes a I xvellbr one anyway and blood will tell God how she stood there and tel Go leer flinched with that devil in her I hand And then he thought of the soft maidenly blushes that had swept i over the sweet face as he talked to her of love 1 the love that had been inhis mind for days and weeks before the appearance of that sinister visitor With Jesuitical complaisance Herko mar began to feel deuced glad that the cobra had precipitated matters by pokI I 8 ing his ugly head into their teteatete i j It had given him the opportunity to risk i ail on a single throw of the dice I and he had wonwon with the other j I fellow her fathers great friend Count I Jlubitino 1 had second I Count liubitino was a dilletanti an amateur scientist ostensibly devoted lIe Minora father the professor tot to-t the discovery of an antidote to the I S vIrus of the cobra and kharite I 1 All dn rut said Herkomer to the I lJf little irn gray that was carrying him so gallantly along Minora his game I and 1 have beaten him my boy beaten him clean out of his boots by Joe I And he chuckled to himself as he thought of the bally row both the count and the professor would kick up when they learned how the land lay As he jogged home from parade next morning Herkoiner brought his pony up alongside of Surgeon Thorny croft Come over and have breakfast with U i me I want to have a talk with you j old man he said The preliminary of the talk was an I I account of What had happened the night before over the advent of the I j thing with the spectacles for he and j I Thorny croft were even as Damon and I Pythias in the olden time Now for the sequel my boy he said as he drew his chair closer to Thornycrpft and then I coser you to tell what is the matter with me Thornycroft shot a suspicious pro fessional look over the physical map of his friends exterior searching for touches of liver sun Burmah head pegcllis or other unique complaints I com-plaints l indigenous to that land Its this I said Herkoiner thought I fully I woke up about 3 oclock in the morning as near as I can judge I with A peculiar tingling sensation through every nerve of my body as though some poison were coursing through my veins Sitting In a chair beside my bed was the figure of a man I spoke to I thinking that the bearer had fallen asleep there The figure did not move I got up and struck a match lighting a candle which stood on the table 1 dislodged a bottle of soda in my fumbling about for amatch and it rolled off striking i the cement flooi and exploding wIth 1 j a report like a gun Still the figuie did not move I I must be the bearer I thought only a I hearer could sleep through such a jollv row When I turned the light of the candle on the face of the sleeper what I do you suppose I saw Thorny croft > And Horkomer leaned over until his troubled questioning eyes were brought I close rtr the surgeons face and he I gripped Thornycrofts wrist ndI his I I flngern seemed eating into the Mesh I I One of thc fellows who had tarried long at the gym and lost the number I I of his mess answered the other care lessly knocking the ashes off the end I of hs cheroot IiI Ii i j I saw myself dead continued the II major taking no notice of his friend I chaff dead and a cobra clinging to J I I my arm I Liver and sun both sighed i Thornycroft mentally Of course youll call it a dream I added Herkomer but this morning I the soda bottle was in fragments on i the floor the candle had been lighted I I and the sole of mr foot was bleeding i I whEre I had stepped on a piece of the I broken glass besides I know I was I awake Now what do ou make of that he asked triumphantly trumphanty 1 What do you make of if Queried the surgeon as he hunted about for his helmet make nothing of it only dont let it occur again and as preventative xentatlve is better than cure in this I country take a run up to Darjeeling it may save you the expense of a trip I home There is a little angel sits up ee da fa above in these days of robbery by j ruinous exchange who sends us these J warnings with a postcnpt added look t our liver So the next I time your chum comes take him up to Darjeelins and let the mountain wInds carpetbeat the jungle fever out of his syatem No Im quite well said Herkomer quite well and thats the deuce of it I he added plaintlx ely I cant make It out When a man is well and sees things ItsIts the devil I Often after that Herkomrr had com I party of the same sort always the same sitting there in the chair uai ing What the thunder is it ailing I for Herkomer used to ask himself Only he did nol bother his I friend I anymore i any-more about itit was no use Physically he was all right He II could put the best man in the regiment I on his back aye and hold him there too for ten seconds with both points I I of the shoulders touching the ground I Neithei did he go to Darjeeling He I I was in a happier place had climed into heaven otherwise known as the I I haunts of Minora Conti Not but what the hot chinooK winds which blow up i from hades sometimes withered and j I I scorched his paradise I I I I was Count Rubitino who always I I started these hut blats He and j I Minora were unnecessarily too much together it seemed to Heikomer but I then he was jealous and consequent no Judge or such mater I j As often as Minors assured him that I she cared nothing for the ount he i i i believed her and is often t as he r stumbled upon them in close com I municn over some secret mater did j t I he feel the hot winds blow and vow I that hI would break away from his I II bondage and leave her to the count nut il always ended the same way I xvasnt what Minora said that put things right it was the exes the great soft Italian eyes looking straight and truthfully at and thru rh him bowlI ing over his jealous resolves like tenpins ten-pins and bringing him back Into leash like a whipped beagle And still It sat there almost nightly now beside his bed He had grown accustomed to seeing it What a i waiting for Sometimes it annoyed him he felt like getting out of bed and kicking it 1 but the idea was so incongruous this kicking of himself this spirItual self resignedly a il were so he gave i up and sighed I Of course It means something he I mused somethings going to happen II but Im not going to make an ass of mxself by talking about It at the mess So he sat tight and cited for the thing to happen as he would haxe xvalted for a Ghnzi rush I I was grew some but much in India Is grew some so he learned to take I things I of thai order much as he took fighting with his 1 coffee j I A far greater puzzle to him was I I I nora herself Sometimes he found her j I listless indifferent and then again for I a time she would be her old brilliant I self selfThinking I Thinking perhaps that these fits of dejection were duo to oppression from I I her father or undue influence brought Ito I-to bear by the count he made bold to I I question her but she shrank from him with horror and seemed more agitated than she had been when holding the cobra Its nerves he thought Life with the musty old professor and his cobra associates as-sociates depressing enough to wreck the nerves of a bronze Buddha Ill I have to get leI out of this So he rushed matters a little and it was all seltled for Christmas week The professor gave his consenl reluctantly enough Herkomer thought and the count congratulated him with an ironical I ironi-cal sneer that made Herkomer long to gIve him a toss in the air from which he would alight on thc top of his curly black head I i When he and common sense sat face lo face common sense told him that rtaWI rte Minora I loved l him with all the strength J of her high strung nature What else is there in i for her common sense I argued for the majors inheritance was maors limited to what his sword mIght cut swor I down from the pagoda tree with the cx j I ceplion of a tilfling allowance barely I large enough to settle his month gym j account i That was the way common sense put I it but the other Intuition or whatever i other alias he masqueraded under said I there was something behind It all and in the both rIght for once a way they were i The love was there right enough and i also something else behind It and this i something else might have all come lout I one evening if Herkomer had not I been so Cooleyheaded honorable he called il at the time cale I tme I lacked two weeks of Christmas I time and they were silting on the xe randa as they hal sat that otehi evening even-ing Minora pulling her cool while lnora puttng I hand on Herkomers wrist and turing i her face a little into the shadow so that he did not notice how set and white it I was said 1 have a confession to i make Rolando Dont make It then little woman I Confessions are silly things for which we are always sorry afterwards But I shall be happier if you let me tell you about this I cant marry you without telling you first I wont Look here1 Minora said the major turnIng her around so that he could look into her faee my objection to YOU confession purely selfish You see I couldnt let you confess all on your side wIthout unloading some of my sins Into your cars and if we exchanged experiences well well I fancy the count would appear such a saint bY comparison that r should lose you altft S igelhcr By tho way Ill compromise he added laughingly rn just ask you one question which you may answer or not and then well call the whole thIng off of offI will answer she said quietly onlnl Well has it anything to do with the count what you were going to tell I me meNo No Then I cant possibly listen i I And so the chance went by the evil I went onwent on for two weeks longe j I and I was the eve of the wedding day t I Love does many strange things f among others causes a pony to gallop so fast that a sxee cannot posslbl keep I pace with the winged rider That was why Herkoiner arrived at Minoias home syceless As there was nobody to hold his puny he led him around behind the bungalow to the stables Minoras rooms were in the north wing of the bungalow and as he passed the great windows opening on to the veranda and reaching from ceiling to floor and open save for the shutters voices that he could not help but hear fell upon his ear For an instant he stood petrified I was the counts voice speaking to Mi nora You will wreck your happiness for a fancy sneered the vole Herkomer quickened his pace so that he might hear ni > more and o her answer an-swer whatever it was he only caught the one word confession as he turned j I the cornet of the bungalow I But all le the fierce Jealous passion thai had slumbered In his heart for weeks arose and smothered him smolhered everything all sense of shame of justice jus-tice of prudence and he rushed Into Minoras boudoir a passionmad man What right had she who was to be come his wife the next day to hold secret se-cret intercourse with thc count there in her own apartments With a started cry Minora thrust somethIng into the drawer of a secre taire beside which she was standing and stood with her back to it as though she would guard the secret Perhaps I am de trop remarked the count passing beyond the purdah with a low bow and as Herkom thought a sneer upon his pale face hywhy haxe you rushed in here Rolando and MKhlened me asked Minora confusedly I am sorry If I hive frightened you said the major shortly and I will answer an-swer your question by asking another for perhaps your answer will suffice for I j Jc j I I I I I SNATCHING THE DRAWER OPEN rLUMcrcD HIS HAND IN r both questions What have you got in I that drawer I I I Minora had not gone xvMte with guilty fear it might have been all right I jet but It was the faltering which de eloped the tiger in the man He took a quick step forward and grasped her wrist cruelly harshly as he fairly hissed out Ypu have a letter or some thing from him there My God she moaned back do not touch it I you touch that drawer I will never marry you never With an exclamation of rage he brushed her to one side and snatching the drawer open plunged his hand In There Was the lightning swish of a dark body like the coil of a whiplash in motion an electric shooting of pain I through his arm which brought an Involuntary In-voluntary cry of anguish from his lips and the twisting writhing of the hideous cobra body as he snatched his land from the death trap A piercing scream had lung out on the still night air as he pulled the drawer open for powerless to stop I him Minora had foresoon that he was driving to his death I was the scream that brought the I professor to the room Quick father Rolando is bitten and before the major knew what he j was about the professor had grasped I I his wrist as in a vIse and pulled him into his own room which was next I From that on it was a head and head finish with the professor and death as the runners There were ligatures and lancing and the Injecting if time professors j pro-fessors antidote and the ceaseless I 1 I A 2 I marching up and down of the patient between twp sturdy durwans and thc watching of a woman with 1 great sore I heart and eyes that were too dry and hot for tears And the other the one that had sat I night after night by Herkomers bed came and sat there just in the center of the veranda Herkomer would not let the durwans move the chafr Dont disturb there him he said let him sit thereHuzoor Huzoor it Is but an empty chair said one of them No one sits there sahib But still lit told them not to move the chair they could walk around It He wont have long to walt now he muttered mut-tered Surely the poison was making the sahib a little mad the durwan thought At first Herkomer felt strangely dated dat-ed It was like new xvine he was drunk on It it was good to be bitten bx cobras co-bras 1 he could only get over it he opium would like to try it agaInIt was like And then came the poppy sleep He begged them to let him lie down and rest restIf you sleep you die the profess yelled in his ear The voice was far off it was like a dream I xvas the murmuring of thE breakers far away on the coral reefs and required too much energy to listen to i Besides he was so tired and sleepy This ceaseless walking up and down was like counting sheep it made his head heavy Up and down up and down the hard floor of the veranda reechoing to the clap clap of the durxvans loose slippers slip-pers as they marched one on either side of him I was a terrible nice and life was the stake Hut as the torturing hours chased each other Ihrough the long Burmese nighl and the gray began to steal ip behind the tapering spire of the golden pagoda in the east and the major still lived I still walked up and down between his relays of Punjabis the professor knew that he had won had robbed the hooded fend of his victim And the man who had come back nut of the jaws of death when he was told that he might sleep went deep down iito thc rest world and lay for hour in asleep that was first cousin to death AAhen hd awoke the figure sitting beside be-side his couch had changed was Minora she who had sal there liur after hour watching that the light did not go quite outthat the sleep did not become of closer kin to death cO Aery confusedly the questioning eyes looked at her when they opened AAhen he had grown a little stronger she told him Ibis told him the tale that she had tried to tel that night when he had stopped her Father inoculated me with the cobra virus part sean experiement and partly for my own safety as his cobras were always about As it seemed to be harmless and to make it sure he performed the operation opera-tion several times But he learned as he is did not foresee the result I acted on me like morphine acts on thos who have It Injected into their xeins it became necessary to my life I The exhilaration you felt would he mine for days then depression followed as I natural law But why go into detail she added wIth a faint wan smile without It I was dead At last I became so that the bite from time cobra was only equal to the dose my father used This was th simplest plan AArhen you first came into my life I thought that I should overcome i for love is blind The night you were bitten I meant to tel you all but to fortify myself to summon up the moral courage to drown the love which was so great and strong I had asked Count Ruhitine to bring a cobra from my fathers box That is all it is not pleasant and I she smiled again wanly I should not have allowed this love to conquer me but now it has conquered It has trIumphed trI-umphed ever allt I will not marry you 1 because I love you I was the best that way Because I I love you I trill not many you I |